Glaucoma

Glaucoma is a group of eye conditions that damage the optic nerve, the health of which is vital for good vision. This damage is often caused by an abnormally high pressure in your eye.

Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness for people over the age of 60. It can occur at any age but is more common in older adults.

Many forms of glaucoma have no warning signs. The effect is so gradual that you may not notice a change in vision until the condition is at an advanced stage.

Because vision loss due to glaucoma can't be recovered, it's important to have regular eye exams that include measurements of your eye pressure so a diagnosis can be made in its early stages and treated appropriately. If glaucoma is recognized early, vision loss can be slowed or prevented. If you have the condition, you'll generally need treatment for the rest of your life.

Symptoms

The signs and symptoms of glaucoma vary depending on the type and stage of your condition. For example:

Open-Angle Glaucoma

Most patients are asymptomatic
Tunnel vision in the advanced stages

Acute Angle-Closure Glaucoma

Severe headache
Eye pain
Nausea and vomiting
Blurred vision
Halos around lights
Eye redness

If left untreated, glaucoma will eventually cause blindness. Even with treatment, about 15 percent of people with glaucoma become blind in at least one eye within 20 years.

Types of Glaucoma

Open-angle glaucoma
Angle-closure glaucoma
Normal-tension glaucoma
Glaucoma in children (congenital glaucoma)
Pigmentary glaucoma

Risk Factors of Glaucoma

Because chronic forms of glaucoma can destroy vision before any signs or symptoms are apparent, be aware of these risk factors:

High Intraocular Pressure
Being over age 60
Being black, Asian or Hispanic
Having a family history of glaucoma
Having certain medical conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and sickle cell anemia
Having corneas that are thin in the center
Being extremely nearsighted or farsighted
Having had an eye injury or certain types of eye surgery
Taking corticosteroid medications, especially eyedrops, for a long time

Diagnosis of Glaucoma

Early detection, through regular and complete eye exams, is the key to protecting your vision from damage caused by glaucoma. Following are the ways through which you can get your eyes examined for Glaucoma:

Measuring intraocular pressure (tonometry)
Testing for optic nerve damage with a dilated eye examination and imaging tests
Checking for areas of vision loss (visual field test)
Measuring corneal thickness (pachymetry)
Inspecting the drainage angle (gonioscopy)

Newer Diagnosis of Glaucoma

Retinal Nerve Fibre Analysis/OCT

Retinal Nerve Fibre Analysis/OCT Nerve fiber analysis is a newer method of glaucoma testing in which the thickness of the nerve fiber layer is measured. Thinner areas may indicate damage caused by glaucoma. The OCT machine can produce a contour map of the optic nerve, optic cup and measure the retinal nerve fiber thickness. Over time this machine can detect loss of optic nerve fibers.

We have all the latest equipment required for diagnosis of glaucoma available at our centre.

Treatment Options for Glaucoma at Ace Vision Cetre

The damage caused by glaucoma can't be reversed. But treatment and regular checkups can help slow or prevent vision loss, especially if you catch the disease in its early stages.

Glaucoma is treated by lowering your eye pressure (intraocular pressure). Depending on your situation, your options may include prescription eyedrops, oral medications, laser treatment, surgery or a combination of any of these.

1. Eyedrops

Glaucoma treatment often starts with prescription eyedrops. These can help decrease eye pressure by improving how fluid drains from your eye or by decreasing the amount of fluid your eye makes. Depending on how low your eye pressure needs to be, more than one of the eyedrops below may need to be prescribed.

2. Surgery and Other Therapies

Other treatment options include laser therapy and various surgical procedures. The following techniques are intended to improve the drainage of fluid within the eye, thereby lowering pressure:

Laser therapy
Filtering surgery.
Drainage tubes.